


But Its Better If You Do

by Homosuckmale



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Incest, M/M, Stridercest - Freeform, if youre not a fan of jade/dave dont let that tag scare you, johnkat is more of a background thing, like theyre There but its not a big deal really, maybe one day ill name my fic something other than a patd song title but today is not that day, no smut yet but i promise it will be there. eventually, stridercest freeform, theyre in a strip club but ive never been to a strip club
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2018-07-17
Packaged: 2019-06-10 23:05:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15302019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Homosuckmale/pseuds/Homosuckmale
Summary: Dave's getting married tomorrow and Rose has planned a bachelor party - a night out at a strip club Dave realizes his Bro used to work at. Maybe if he's lucky he won't recognize him? But Dave's never really had the best of luck.





	But Its Better If You Do

Dave shuffled his feet awkwardly in the floorboard of the passenger seat. He flicked at a couple buttons on the door, unlocking and relocking it, then rolling the window down little by little. He was nervous, and everyone in the car knew it.

John reached a hand onto his shoulder from the backseat and gave it a little squeeze. “Hey!” He said, and it took every ounce of willpower in Dave’s body to resist rolling his eyes at the chipper tone, “Relax, man, it's gonna be fun!”

Dave tried to shrug him off, but John just held on tighter, for a moment at least. From beside John came a deep, huffy sigh. 

“I ain't real thrilled about it either, Dave.” Karkat complained and John removed his hand from Dave’s shoulder and placed it on Karkat’s knee instead.

“You boys are awful at the whole bachelor party thing. If it weren't for me you three would just be sitting at home watching some terrible movie and drinking cheap beer.” Rose chimed in from the driver's seat.

Dave rolled his eyes as he stared out the window. “That sounds like a good fucking night, to be honest,” he said to himself.

Rose giggled quietly and John and Karkat murmured in the backseat. The atmosphere in the little car was incredibly awkward and tense, but luckily the drive was over soon. As Rose turned the corner into a dimly lit parking lot, Dave stared at the neon lights above the building.

“Classy,” Dave commented as he read over the sign again. ‘RIDER’ it said in all caps. A few bulbs in the E flickered as if to emphasize exactly his point.

Rose sighed as she parked the car and Karkat mumbled something from the backseat. “What was that?” Rose questioned, looking in the rearview mirror at Karkat.

“I said this place looks like a shithole.”

“It is.” Rose responded without missing a beat. “But it's worth it.”

Dave groaned as he pushed open his door and leaned against the car, waiting for the others to get out. He reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone, clicking on a notification.

 

\--gardenGnostic started pestering you--

GG: hey!! 

TG: babe this sucks 

TG: can you like

TG: idk call rose and tell her the local library got robbed or something

GG: no way dave!! rose knows how to have fun, im sure whatever you're doing will be great!!

TG: jade

TG: are we talking about the same rose here

GG: hehehehe

GG: just have some fun for once!! 

GG: <3

\--GG stopped pestering you--

 

Dave sighed and slid his phone back into his pocket. He combed his fingers through his hair and followed after Rose with John and Karkat trailing behind them as they made their way to the entrance. He tilted his head back in total exasperation as Rose pulled an envelope from her purse to retrieve the money for the cover charge for the four of them.

“You know I ain't, like, celebrating my 10th birthday at Chuck E Cheese, right?” Dave complained. The bouncer smirked a little as he let them in and Dave avoided eye contact with the burly man. “You're so fucking embarrassing.”

Rose ignored him as she pushed past the small crowd. It was actually fairly busy for a week day night, but that still didn't translate to it being packed by any means. The main stage was currently empty and a couple dancers made their way around the floor, mingling with customers. Rose slid into a chair closest to the stage and Dave reluctantly took a seat beside her. John placed a hand on each of their backs and leaned between them to talk over the music. “Me and KK are gonna find the restrooms.” He said before draping his jacket over a chair beside Dave. “Text me if the show starts before were back!”

Rose agreed and pointed towards a sign in the back, watching John whisper something to Karkat, his arm around his waist, as they headed a totally different direction.

Rose sighed, she didn't look away from the empty stage. “I don't understand why you're so opposed to this. Strip clubs are such a common trope in male bachelor parties, and Jade promised me she had no issue with it.”

Dave clenched his fists as he stared at his feet. “It’s just, like...I'm getting married tomorrow, I'm nervous as hell, like, you can't imagine my fuckin’ nerves, Rose. Like, I'm basically about to make the biggest fucking decision of my life. My brain is in another goddamned dimension right now, shit can’t even be comprehended, forget explaining it.”

Rose hummed for a moment in thought, briefly glancing at him from the corner of her eye, but he didn't make eye contact, his eyes just stayed locked with the floor.

“And what do you think this will help?” Dave started again, looking up now, watching as the lights around the stage began to change colors and the chairs around the edge began to fill up. “Sitting me down in this fuckin’ overpriced plushass joint filled with drugged out dudes throwing their last dollars at a girl way out of their league. For what? To stare at some titties for an hour? To sip some watered down martini and pretend I ain't gonna vomit all over Jade’s dress tomorrow?”

Rose began to smile now, “You know Jade loves you, Dave. You're not going to choke tomorrow. I know you, you're good under pressure. You're probably going to improv some awful rap for your vows, and Jade will love it as if it was in any way decently written or has any stylistic composure. Once you're standing at the altar, you'll know what you want, and you'll do great. It's okay to be nervous."

Dave rolled his eyes but Rose continued on, "However, your nerves cannot have nothing to do with the way your eyes are shifting around, and are unable to focus on any one thing. Your foot is tapping in a similar manner and I can tell its not anxiously waiting to leave, but instead your excitement building. Tomorrow will be a cinch, you know that, you're nervous about next week, and next month, and next year. And you're nervous about something you've pushed way down inside bubbling to the top tonight and questioning how tomorrow will go if you don't keep pushing it down, and the effect it will have on the rest of your life.” 

Dave took a deep breath and held it in his chest for several moments as he heard a soothing voice over the intercom announce the main performance of the night. “The much awaited return, back from retirement for one night only, Rider himself takes the stage for the first time in 10 years.”

Dave whipped around, “Rose, I swear to god if you-”

“Just in time!” John commented as he slid into the seat beside Dave, Karkat leaning past him and issuing Dave and Rose an urgent warning about the awful bartender. “Rider? Like the name of the club?” John asked, suppressing a giggle.

Rose smiled and gave a nod, “Yes, he's the owner now, actually.”

“He named a strip club after himself? He sounds like a fucking douchebag.” Karkat commented just as a man entered stage center, his head dropped so the lighting kept his face covered by shadows.

The music was tense but quiet, and his movements seemed to be urging the crowd to participate. He felt a finger around the rim of his baseball cap before tracing it onto his dark, abnormally shaped sunglasses. He pushed them down his nose as he tilted his head up, his face finally being revealed as his eyes almost instinctively connected with Dave’s.

Dave stood up, ready to bolt, but he felt Rose’s hand pull on his wrist and he watched the man on the stage smirk at him and now it was clear he was paying particular attention to Dave as his hands, clad in leather gloves, traced down his torso and lifted his shirt. He bit down on the hem, holding it up to show off his stomach as one hand slowly unbuttoned his pants.

Dave had seen this performance before, 10 years ago. It had been his idea back then, and Rose had invited herself along. John was struggling to come to terms with being gay, Karkat wanted an excuse to be around John, and Dave was just horny all the time, so the three of them decided to check out male strip clubs together. It seemed like a logical choice, what could go wrong?

They had been to a handful before with no issues, and they were all getting pretty comfortable with it. This time was different.

When the show started, the man they had heard so much about - Rider - came out and Dave had stood up and left. Karkat, John, and Rose all found him in the parking lot, in what could only be described as shock.

“That was my fucking Bro.” Dave had said, staring at the ground, trying to make his words make sense. “I swear to god, that was my fucking brother.”

Dave hadn't lived with his brother in nearly a year, and the two didn't keep in close contact. Bro had been kind of a distant father figure during Dave’s childhood, and had devolved into little more than texts on holidays, or a meme with no context or reply. Dave wasn't even aware his brother had been living in that town.

Dave swore that had been his bro, and had often cited it as one of the weirdest moments of his life. Rose constantly used his reaction against him, analyzing his behavior and insisting there was something deeper to it, applying it to literally any situation they found themselves in.

Dave had thought that when his brother had text him a single “congrats, lil man” in response to his engagement with Jade that Rose would finally drop the topic, but it seemed she had actually gone the extra mile.

Now, Dave stood right in front of this man who was almost certainly his older brother in ill fitting, unzipped jeans and his shirt now completely removed, and he was definitely walking towards him. Rose was crinkling a bill in his hand and John was laughing, occasionally cheering for the man he clearly did not recognize.

As Rider approached Dave, he licked his top lip and Dave cursed the blood rushing to his ears. He knew Rose would never let him forget what he did next as he lifted his hand and slipped the five into the waistband of Rider’s briefs. With his fingers still against his sternum, he felt the larger man let out a single snort and watched as the corner of his mouth pulled up into a smirk. He moved past Dave and John held out a single as well and he took it between his fingers like a cigarette and slid it behind one of his ears. 

As he moved past them, Dave sat back down, silent. John elbowed him in the side, “You really got his attention, dude!” He said with a smile but Dave ignored him, his eyes not leaving Rider’s face.

Rider still wore the hat, and as he reached the end of the catwalk, now in full swing to the music, he pushed the sunglasses up and began removing his pants. With one hand on his ass he looked behind him and directly at Dave, the two making eye contact again.

Dave leaned over to Rose, “There's no way he recognizes me, right?” 

Rose, as stone faced as usual, whispered back, “If he doesn't, the note you gave him should be a decent reminder.” 

Dave’s eyes, against all laws of anatomy, somehow dilated even further. “I am going to kill you.” He whispered back.

Rose shrugged, “You should be thanking me.”

“He's coming back over here, Dave!” John said with a couple quick pats on his leg but Dave was well aware of the figure now looming over him in nothing but a pair of briefs, sunglasses, a hat, and fingerless gloves. He looked like a complete stereotype, and yet it just hit Dave he was just wearing his normal clothes.

Bro really went around looking like this all the time, his entire adolescence. 

Dave took a deep breath as Rider effortlessly jumped off the stage, mere inches away from Dave as he now straddled the flustered blond. “I may have bought you a rather unconventional wedding gift.” Rose commented, but Dave ignored her. His face was beet red as he felt the lump in Rider’s briefs graze across his stomach. He was staring at his shades through his own, trying to find some hint of reservation in his brothers face but the older man seemed to be getting into it. The music was getting faster, and without thinking Dave let his hands clasp onto his ass. Rider smirked again and let his arms rest on Dave’s shoulders.

John was eating it up. His face was all smiles and he was occasionally throwing in a teasing remark on how embarrassed Dave was before Karkat mumbled something and he responded, a little louder to speak over the music, “Yeah, they do look kind of similar!”

Dave had given up all attempts at joking along, laughing, or playing it off. However, he also wasn’t pushing Rider away, or storming out like he did ten years ago. He was actually attempting to rest his arms on Rider’s hips, but the taller man shook his head and pulled his arms away, leaving them to dangle helplessly at his side. Rider was moving in a rhythm Dave couldn’t follow, some beat in the background of the music that he just couldn’t pick up on. Rose was smiling and Karkat was still trying to whisper something to John, who was mostly ignoring him in favor of cheering on Dave and slipping more singles into whatever fabric he could find.

Then, almost as quickly as he had got there, he was gone. Rider had rolled back up on stage and was shifting his attention to someone else, collecting more money and jumping off the stage again. Dave’s heartbeat was slowly returning to normal, but now he felt something different than the overwhelming embarrassment or even absolutely mindblowing confusion at his older brother’s dick being about two inches from his own - jealousy. He was sitting up in his chair and trying to watch where Rider went, who he was dancing with now, and trying to see what the other person might look like.

Dave quickly realized that was probably a mistake when he heard Rose snicker from beside him again. He didn’t even listen to whatever snarky comment she made, he just kept his eyes trained on Rider as he leapt back on stage, grabbed a few more bills, and left back through the curtain he had entered from.

There was a few more moments before the music died down and faded into a new song and someone different came through the curtain. The crowd went wild, but Dave was left a little disappointed to not see Rider again.

Rider was what he kept calling him in his head, partially out of refusal to call him Bro when two minutes earlier he was sweating over seeing him unbutton his pants. The other reason he kept calling him Rider was because it was, for all intents and purposes, a stupid fucking name and Dave couldn't wrap his head around why out of all the potential stripper names his brother had to go with, that was what he chose.

Dave tried to tune back into what was happening on stage, but his mind was in a million other places. He wanted to see Rider again, but more importantly, he wanted to make sure that Rider had absolutely no idea who he was. He hadn't said anything, and Dave was definitely taller and broader than he was when they lived together. As far as he was concerned, the chances of his brother totally forgetting what his face looked like was pretty high.

Dave stood up and told his friends he'd be right back and ignored Rose’s remark about being safe and calling her if he goes home with someone else. He brushed her off and found his way to the bar. He noticed the bartender looked a little overwhelmed by the other patrons and by the time he got to him, he was apologizing profusely for the wait.

Dave shrugged and told him it wasn't a big deal and placed his order. The man nodded and brought him his drink before offering more information than Dave’s expressionless face could have really cared to know.

“Yeah its just so busy tonight, we haven't been this packed in years.” Said the bartender as he wiped down the table, Dave noting there really wasn't anything spilled on it to begin with.

“Yeah?” Dave asked, his eyes looking over the crowd surrounding the stage. It did seem like this place had room for plenty of other chairs and stages that had been roped off or closed up.

“Yeah, everyone's here to see Mr. Strider, er, Rider. He's uh, usually back here helping me these days, but he said he got a special request to perform tonight and word spread pretty fast.” The bartender explained while Dave kept his eyes on the other dancer, watching him exit back through the same curtain.

“Yeah, that's great, man.” Dave responded absently as he took a sip of his beer and waited for another man to enter the stage, letting out a sigh when it wasn't who he wanted it to be and turned back around to the bartender.

The man had already found himself helping someone else, presumably complaining again about Mr. Strider, no,  _ Rider  _ performing tonight instead of helping him. Dave assumed if this was such a special thing, he would be coming back out again, right?

Dave finished his beer and wandered his way back to his seat. He watched the last couple minutes of the current performance before the music changed again and Rose leaned back over to him. “I didn't expect him to actually do it.” She commented, just loud enough to be heard over all the music and cheers. “Rider, I mean. He hasn't performed in so long, I thought he would just ignore my request.”

“Wait, you mean you  _ were _ the one who-” Dave started before the music began to amp up again, growing louder and faster before Rider came back out on stage. Everyone was cheering and yelling and Rider was eating it up. The shade from his baseball cap cast a shadow over his face before he took it off and threw it into the crowd.

John reached up and caught it as it whizzed past them and he dropped it on Dave’s lap. Dave looked a little frazzled as he held the cap, Rider locking eyes with him through their shades. “Fuck, Rose, you know he’s, like...”

“What I know doesn't really matter. What matters is how you feel about it. Stop worrying so much, just  _ feel. _ ” Rose responded as she gave a small push on the back of his chair, Dave’s pent up anxiety causing him to spring up and tumble the couple feet he was from the stage. He noticed before her push, she must have slipped a bill into his hand, and he found him face to face with Rider, his older brother who was now wearing little more than what he could only describe as a thong.

The older man had squatted down eye level with Dave and smirked. He moved one hand under Dave’s chin, closing his agape jaw, and thumbing away a small dribble of spit. Dave felt his face growing red, and he was wracking his brain for any words, just any words at all, anything he could say in this situation. His mouth fell open again to speak but nothing came out and Rider smiled bigger. “Cat gotcha’ tongue, lil man?” The taller blond asked and Dave felt like a deer in headlights. “I read your note, sounds like there’s somethin’ important we should talk about, huh, kid?”

“Bro, I don’t-”

“Its Rider here, dude. As long as you’re waving money in my face, I ain’t your Bro.” The taller man added with a smirk as he plucked the bill out of Dave’s hand and stood back up, making his way around the stage again. He held the bill in his teeth as he stopped at a chrome finished pole and the crowd went wild. Dave couldn’t take his eyes off him, his arms, his thighs, every muscle on his body rippling as he climbed the pole and held himself there as he bent backwards and slid down again, stopping inches from the ground.

Money was being thrown on the stage, people were cheering, and Rider was smirking and dancing, all the while periodically looking back at Dave. Everytime they locked eyes, he felt his face grow hot and his palms started to sweat. Eventually, the show seemed to draw to an end as Rider picked up the loose ones scattered around the stage, gave one final lap dance, and disappeared behind the curtain.

It seemed closing time was drawing near, the music was becoming quieter and the lights were turning up. Customers began to filter out as a few other dancers made their way around, taking a few last minute tips and waving off other men with particularly strong alcohol on their breath.

Rider was nowhere to be seen. Dave had actually be hoping he would come out to talk to him, maybe in private. Nothing weird, he told himself, just catching up, that’s all...but Rose was, as always, a step ahead of him.

“Since he’s the owner now, he has a lot of work to do at closing, so I doubt Rider will be back out tonight.” Rose mentioned casually to Dave who was scouting the room, looking for the tall, blond man amongst the leftover crowd before they made their way to the exit. “It’s a shame, I know.”

“Whatever, I’m tired.” Dave grumbled as he pushed through the crowd outside the building, waving off the clouds of smoke that had begun billowing from various customers and dancers alike. He found their car and tugged the passenger door open a few seconds before Karkat and John caught up to him and let themselves slid into the backseat.

“It wasn’t THAT bad, Dave!” John insisted with a sloppy smile, his words slurred just a little and Dave briefly wondered how much he and Karkat had drank while he wasn’t paying attention.

Dave didn’t respond to him, he just rested his elbow against the window and leaned his chin into his hand as Rose finally joined them in the driver’s seat.

“It seems you have a lot on your mind, Dave. I’ll get you boys home so you get a good night’s rest before tomorrow.” Rose said smoothly as she started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

After Karkat and John fell asleep in the back, the rest of the ride was silent except for the buzzing of the cars engine. Dave didn’t say anything until Rose dropped him off at home and helped him wake up his sleeping friends and usher them inside. They dropped them off in their own bedroom where they were back asleep before their heads hit the pillows. Rose hesitated after they were alone and Dave could feel how badly she wanted to say something.

“Whatever it is, just say it.” He finally forced out, his hand on the knob to his own bedroom.

Rose took a deep breath and steadied her eyes on the back of his head. “You’re making a huge mistake, David. I know it’s not my place to be so pushy about this, but I know that this...what you’re doing with Jade...it’s not what you really want. I think you know what you really want, but you’re scared to admit it because are afraid of what people will say about you. I just want you to know that whatever you do, I’ll always love you. I’ll never judge you, Dave. I just want you to be happy.”

Dave listened to what she said, and nodded his head a couple times. “I love you too, Rose. You’re really smart, ya know that?”

“I know. Now go to bed.”

Dave didn’t look back at her, but she knew he was smiling as he pushed open the door to his bedroom and disappeared inside, leaving Rose to see herself out and lock up behind.

**Author's Note:**

> maybe ill actually go to a strip club so the next chapter can be at least slightly realistic lmao


End file.
